Return to Ashes
by Jiangshi
Summary: Spirit Weapons; Forged by beings, far older than the gods themselves. Weapons capable of defying all laws and capable of slaying gods. Features: A more serious version of Pestilence. Contains elements from other shows. Rated T for Language.


**Hello There.**

 **I Hope You Enjoy This Chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.**

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 **{Name} Taberu**

 **{Race} Spirit Weapon**

 **{Description}**

 **An ancient relic forged by the first Spirit Smith, who had existed over 4 billion years ago. Since its creation, it has been dormant, waiting for someone to awaken it.**

 **{Appearance}**

 **A ancient but futuristic looking Naginata, made entirely by an unknown metal lost to time. When not active, it changes into a small handheld stick that can act as a baton.**

 **{Skills}**

 **[Ash Spirit] A complete mastery over Ashes.**

 **[Evolution] Capable of adapting, and mutating into better, and stronger forms.**

 **[Spirit Weapon] If destroyed, can reform itself using the energy of the one its bonded to.**

 **{Abilities}**

 **[Consume] Using Ashes, Taberu is capable of devouring, and assimilating anything.**

 **[Summon] Using Ashes, Taberu is capable of summoning past victims, or foe that had fell to either his Ashes, or blade.**

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 **[Prologue]**

Running through the snow, a boy gasped, supporting himself on a tree. Taking in deep breathes, and looking behind himself, he noticed a silhouette slowly approaching him at what seemed to be a casual pace. A snowstorm had separated the boy from his parents, and after wandering in the snow looking for help, the figure had appeared. At first he thought the figure, a man had come to help, but after seeing his attire, and rather disturbing grin, the boy had run off, trying to lose his stalker. Unfortunately for him, the stalker seemed to always know where he was.

This had been going on for some time, the boy trying to escape, and the man casually walking after him. In a way, it was a twisted cat-and-mouse game, except he didn't know what would happen to him should the man catch him. As the boy ran through the snow, his foot was snagged on a root which was hidden in the snow, causing him to fall to the ground, which was unfortunately next to a cliff. The boy wasn't even able to utter a sound, as he tumbled off. The man who had followed the boy, looked down from the cliff where the boy had fallen off, before shrugging.

The man thought to follow the boy, but decided against it. If the boy died, then it wasn't anything for him to worry about, but if he lived? Thinking about it, the man decided it wouldn't hurt to at least check on the boy. If the boy was indeed, still alive when he found him, then no one would suspect him, if the boy happened to die from 'frostbite'. With that, the man hunched and waited for a brief moment. Rupturing from his back, a pair of large black wings sprouted from his shoulder-blades. Releasing a strong flap, the wings pushed the man into the air, ignoring the harsh snowing wind.

The boy gasped, as he struggled to get up, his arms having broken from the fall. Thankfully the snow had caused his limbs to go numb, so he wasn't able to feel the pain at the moment. Whatever relief he may have felt immediately disappeared as he heard the flapping of wings above him. Without any delay, the boy slowly rushed off into a random direction, hoping to escape his assailant. Unfortunately for the boy, he forgot to cover his tracks, otherwise he may have escaped with his life, even if he would have succumbed to the pain later on, and pass away from the frost.

As the boy began to lose hope at escaping, something large came into view. Squinting his eyes, the boy noticed what seemed to be a stone building in front of him, one resembling a shrine he had saw, when he and his family had visited Tokyo. Before his thoughts could continue, a figure landed onto the ground, the snow somewhat muffling the rumble the figure made. Turning , all the boy could see was a dark object nearing his face. A moment later, the boy sailed through the air, left cheek red from where the figure had kicked him.

The stone building rumbled, as the boy crashed into it, breaking the wall and landing the boy into what seemed to be a sacrificial room. Gasping at the cold, yet warm air that brushed past him and into the cold outdoor airs. Looking up, he noticed what seemed to be some sort of object, resting upon an altar. While the room itself looked old and broken, the object still looked new. Curious of the object, the boy tried, and barely succeeded on getting to his feet. Limping over to the altar, he idly noted that the figure had stopped following him, as if thinking that the boy had died from the blow.

This thought was supported by the sudden flapping of wings, and the sound slowly disappearing, as though the figure was leaving. With the figure now gone, any sort of fear began to leave the boy. The feeling was soon replaced with exhaustion, and pain as the feeling in his body returned. Groaning from the pain, the boy fell to his knees, unable to move a finger. Blood began to leak from hidden gashes, and cuts and was soon trailing down the boys body. The boy, not an ounce of energy left was unable to even let out a whimper of pain.

As the boy kneeled unresponsive, the blood that dripped from his body, landed onto the stone in front of him. As if magic was involved, the blood slowly seeped into the stone itself, as lines appeared, slowly connecting with one-another, and forming a circle, surrounding the altar. As the circle began to glow, four figure-like pictures appeared on the walls, around the boy.

The first to appear was a massive bird-like man. The figure had the head of a crow, but the body of a starved man. A pair of massive wings were attached to the bird-like man's back with four long spear-like feathers sprouting from his pelvis. The birdman was sitting curled, as if trapped within an egg, waiting to be freed.

The second to appear was a dragon with nine heads, and four arms. The dragon had heads resembling plated helmets, and had three rows of teeth each. A pair of great leathery wings were furled on the dragons back with a spear-like tail. The dragon seemed to have been laying curled up in a deep slumber.

The third to appear was some sort of creature. It had the head of a saber-tooth with spear-like fangs, a second head of a bull, the body of a lion, the arms of a gorilla, the legs of a goat, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. The creature seemed to be bickering with itself.

The final to appear was what seemed to be a massive humanoid hyena. The beast wore what seemed like ragged hood, with metal armor covering its body, leaving only its right side exposed. In its right hand was a massive spear.

The figures glowed with the lines, before fading away as the object sitting on the altar began to move. It hovered above its resting place, before moving, as though facing the dying boy. It glowed for a moment, before shooting forward, impacting against the boy. The boy fell on his back with no resistance, as he barely clung onto consciousness. Before blissful sleep overtook him, he saw the object sink into his chest, not knowing that his life would forever change.

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 **Done.**

 **I suppose, you want to know what this story is about.**

 **I don't intend to discontinue Pestilence,if that's what your thinking. This is merely a project I wish to make while I continue writing the next chapter of Pestilence.**

 **Since this is an AU, there are several changes to the story, but stays roughly the same to the original story.**

 **[Setting] Instead of finding a house in the middle of nowhere in a snowy area, Taberu can be found in an ancient, and abandoned monastery in the snowy peaks of Japan.**

 **[Taberu] What Taberu is is what makes him different from his original counterpart. While the original Taberu was a Spirit Weapon that was made, about two decades before the series began, I had this one be made near the early years, when Earth was only a few years old.**

 **[Gaming System] I've found myself using the Gaming system less, and less as I progress through Pestilence, and I soon realized that the Game System was a crutch. I found that I would use it in the beginning, before suddenly abandoning it without care, ruining one of the key elements of the game.**

 **(Question)**

 **In the story {Pestilence}, should I still use the Game System, or should I stop using it entirely?**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to know what you think of this story.**


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